Painter arrested after man’s skull broken in nightclub

Jessica Grewal
Senior Reporter APN Newsdesk NSW Bureau
Working from Sydney, Jessica specialises in crime/court reporting, filing for APN’s regional mastheads in Northern NSW as well as providing national content for the group.
She was previously Chief Reporter at the Fraser Coast Chronicle in Hervey Bay, Queensland where she grew up and trained.
Early in her career, she was named Queensland Young Journalist of the Year at the Clarion Awards.
More recently, she was finalist at the 2013 Kennedy Awards for Excellence in NSW Journalism in both the...

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A YOUNG painter faces possible jail time after an alleged king hit at a Hervey Bay night club left another man with a fractured skull.

It will be alleged the 22-year-old had taken exception to the victim 'pushing in' to the drinks line at Viper when he dealt the potentially deadly blow.

With a raft of high-profile court cases and media campaigns ensuring alcohol-related violence remains in the national spotlight, police are struggling to understand why some young men are still failing to heed the message that one drunken punch can ruin lives.

Police were called to Viper Niteclub in the early hours of Sunday morning following reports of an assault in the main bar.

Witnesses allegedly told police the 35-year-old victim had been knocked to the head after standing in front of the accused about 1.15am.

He was rushed to hospital, where scans later revealed he had suffered fractures to his skull, jaw, cheek bone and eye socket.

He was also treated for a large laceration and released, pending a consultation with a surgeon in Brisbane next week.

Detectives arrested the accused at his Urangan worksite on Monday.

Hervey Bay CIB Detective Sergeant Mick Polit said clothing stained in blood had also been seized under a search warrant and would be tendered as evidence in the prosecution's case.

He said the majority of assault offences taking up police time of a weekend were alcohol related and warned partygoers to think about the impact a night out could have on the rest of their lives.

"It's no secret that people do stupid things when they are affected by alcohol," Sgt Polit said.